Austin, TX — Operator & Builder
Rik Avalos
I bring the network, go-to-market strategy, and operating systems behind AI-native companies. Co-founder at Trinzik. Formerly Head of Talent at Neuralink. Also front the Rik Avalos Band.
About
Operator first. Builder always.
Rik Avalos has spent two decades finding, building, and leading the people behind category-defining companies — from early hypergrowth at Tesla and Google, to Head of Talent at Neuralink, where every hire was personally reviewed and approved by Elon Musk, to standing up Outdoorsy's first people function as its founding VP.
At Teladoc Health, he led talent strategy through the Livongo–Teladoc merger — one of the most complex organizational integrations in digital health history — and built the company's Argentina recruiting operation from scratch.
Today he's a co-founder of Trinzik, bringing the network, go-to-market strategy, and operating system for a category that didn't exist two years ago — while Trinzik's product and technology are built by his co-founder, Bob Michaels. Bob is also the builder behind Polsys, an AI political intelligence platform where Rik again leads GTM and network rather than the code. Off the clock, he fronts The Rik Avalos Band, a recording and live-performance project rooted in Austin's music scene.
Working alongside Bob has become something more than a business partnership — Bob is also mentoring Rik in AI development. Under that mentorship, Rik has built the Rik Avalos Band website, this site, and a growing list of other projects, working directly with Claude Code rather than a traditional dev team.
Read the full story“Rik possesses a rare combination of strategic vision and hands-on execution. He doesn't just fill positions — he understands the long-term needs of the organization.”
- Years building teams & companies
- 20+
- Years building teams & companies
- Companies from Tesla to Trinzik
- 6
- Companies from Tesla to Trinzik
- AI-native co-founded venture
- 1
- AI-native co-founded venture
Experience
Two decades of building teams that build companies
Trinzik
Austin, TX · Remote
CurrentCo-Founder, Chief of Staff & Acting CRO
Jun 2026 — Present- Stepped back into the CRO seat in June 2026, resuming direct ownership of revenue strategy and the partner/sales pipeline alongside the Chief of Staff role.
- Strategic operator to CEO Bob Michaels, driving alignment across GTM, product, partnerships, finance, and people for a 0-to-1 venture-stage company in a category that didn't exist 24 months ago.
- Translate company vision into operating rhythms — OKRs, decision frameworks, cross-functional accountability, and leadership communications.
- Architect and run the Founding Partner Program, an invitation-only agency cohort with one-partner-per-market exclusivity across Austin, Dallas, Houston, Denver, and Nashville.
- Activate a 30,000-person decision-maker network across Trinzik's ICP, converting two decades of trust into pipeline, partnerships, and long-cycle enterprise relationships.
Strategic Chief of Staff & Co-Founder
Apr 2026 — Jun 2026- Strategic operator to CEO Bob Michaels, driving alignment across GTM, product, partnerships, finance, and people while Dr. Steve Elmore served as CRO.
- Translated company vision into operating rhythms — OKRs, decision frameworks, cross-functional accountability, and leadership communications.
Co-Founder, Chief Revenue Officer
Jan 2025 — Apr 2026- Designed and launched the GTM strategy, agency partner program, and pipeline architecture that turned early belief into paying clients.
- Established Trinzik's go-to-market positioning in the emerging GEO / AI search category — the market narrative that still drives inbound and outbound today.
- Closed the founding cohort of agency partners and onboarded the first lighthouse client, ProScalar, validating the platform and the agency-first GTM motion.
- Transitioned to a broader strategic operator role in April 2026, bringing in Dr. Steve Elmore as incoming CRO to scale what was built.
The Rik Avalos Band
Austin, TX
Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Mar 2022 — Apr 2026- Founder and executive lead of a recording and live-performance brand — creative vision, songwriting, production, brand identity, and audience development.
- Led collaborating musicians, producers, and studios while managing distribution, promotion, and live event execution across Austin's circuit.
Teladoc Health
Remote / Austin, TX
Principal International Recruiter
Apr 2023 — Jan 2025- Led talent strategy through the Livongo–Teladoc merger, one of the most complex organizational integrations in digital health history.
- Built and led a global recruiting team, including standing up Teladoc's Argentina recruiting operation to staff regional offices across Latin America.
Director, Research & Development Recruitment
Nov 2020 — Apr 2023- Built and led a global recruiting team, establishing the Argentina team supplying regional offices.
- Partnered with technical leadership to align recruitment strategy with product roadmap and organizational design.
Principal Technical Recruiter
Jun 2020 — Nov 2020- Spearheaded recruiting strategy to source and secure engineering and technical talent during rapid company growth following the Livongo merger.
Outdoorsy
Austin, TX
Vice President, People, Talent & Culture
Jan 2019 — Jun 2020- First VP-level people leader at a high-growth marketplace startup — built the function from the ground up during a period of rapid scaling.
- Directed full-cycle recruiting for senior and executive roles across product, engineering, and operations, partnering directly with founders on job architecture and workforce planning.
- Shaped company culture and employer brand during a critical growth window, improving retention and candidate conversion.
Neuralink
San Francisco Bay Area
Head of Talent
May 2018 — Jan 2019- Led end-to-end recruiting for all technical and leadership roles — engineering, neuroscience, and operations — with every hire personally reviewed and approved by Elon Musk.
- Built strategic partnerships with universities and research institutions to develop long-term pipelines in AI, robotics, and neuroscience.
- Directed employer branding that positioned Neuralink as a destination for world-class scientists and engineers at the frontier of human-computer interfaces.
Earlier Career
Earlier in his career, Rik built and led recruiting and talent functions at Tesla and Google during pivotal hypergrowth stages, along with staffing leadership at BGI.
Education
Sep 1988 — Dec 1991
The University of Texas at Austin
English Language and Literature, General
Paid his tuition and supported himself as a professional musician through school.
AI Skills
Strategist and builder, working the same problem from both ends
AI Category Strategy & GTM
Built the go-to-market and market narrative for Trinzik inside GEO — the AI search visibility category — before most of the market had a name for it.
0-to-1 AI Operating Systems
Designs the OKRs, decision frameworks, and executive operating rhythms that let venture-stage AI companies move fast without losing coherence.
Building With AI
An active builder learning from Trinzik co-founder Bob Michaels, his mentor in AI development — under that mentorship, Rik has built the Rik Avalos Band website, this site, and a growing list of other projects, working directly with Claude Code rather than a traditional dev team.
AI & Deep-Tech Talent
Recruited at the frontier of AI and robotics as Head of Talent at Neuralink, building pipelines with universities and research institutions in AI, robotics, and neuroscience.
Political AI Go-to-Market
Brings go-to-market strategy and his campaign-world network to Polsys, an AI intelligence platform Bob Michaels is building that monitors how AI systems represent political campaigns — helping turn a novel AI-era problem into a product campaigns actually adopt.
Projects
What I'm building right now
This Website
Designer & Builder
Designed and built end-to-end working directly with Claude Code — no traditional dev team — under Trinzik co-founder Bob Michaels' mentorship in AI development.
Live
The Rik Avalos Band
Founder & CEO
A recording and live-performance brand built from the ground up — songwriting, production, and a growing presence on Austin's live circuit, with a song featured in the documentary The River of Angels.
Austin, TX
Contact
Let's build something
Open to conversations about AI-native GTM, operating at venture-stage companies, partnerships, or just talking music. Based in Austin, TX — working with teams everywhere.